A slightly tweaked concept on a classic dish, spaghetti with red kidney bean balls bathed in a chili & garlic marinara sauce.
My bean obsession continues. This time, the beans replace the ground beef in Italian seasoned meatballs to create… bean balls? They really don’t miss a beat, I mean, I even prefer them to actual meatballs as the beans seem to do a better job at soaking up all the seasonings and sauce compared to regular old dead ground cow.
The marinara is also something special. Inspired by Arrabbiata sauce, it uses a Huy Fong Foods Chili Garlic Sauce to give it the perfect amount of kick and flavor – then adds in a lot of additional garlic too.
It’s a simple enough recipe but here are a few notes to help you along or inspire your own version:
- You can opt to avoid using the beef bouillon in the meatballs, and instead, use a veggie-powdered bouillon for a vegetarian-friendly option.
- The same applies for gluten-free diets. Simply swap out the breadcrumbs for a gluten-friendly variety.
- And for the pasta, choose your preference. I actually went with soybean pasta (so yes, the whole dish was essentially beans!)
Time You Need:
- Prep: ~45 minutes
- Cooking: ~45 minutes
- Yields: ~6 servings
What You Need:
- Bean balls:
- 2 cans of red kidney beans, drained and dried
- 1 cup of chopped white or yellow onion
- 1 cup of Italian seasoned bread crumbs
- 8 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp chickpea flour
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- ½ tbsp worcestershire sauce
- 1 tbsp dried Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp garlic salt
- 1 tsp of beef bouillon
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp ground mustard
- For the Boxcar Marinara:
- 1 large white or sweet yellow onion, diced
- 10 cloves of garlic, minced
- 2 cans (28 ounce) whole tomatoes (unseasoned)
- 2 tbsp Olive oil
- 2 tbsp dried basil
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp dried Italian seasoning
- 1 tbsp red pepper flakes
- 1 tbsp Huy Fong Foods Chili Garlic Sauce (or similar brand)
- Black pepper, to taste
- 1 cup fresh shredded parmesan
- * optional: Any fresh herbs: such as parsley, basil thyme, etc.
- And for the pasta:
- ~1 – 1.5 pounds of spaghetti of choice
- Olive oil
- Salt to taste
What You Do:
- For the Boxcar Marinara:
- In a large pot, add olive oil, minced garlic and onion. Cook for about 5 minutes over medium heat until onions are soft.
- Add basil, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, garlic powder and black pepper.
- Then add in tomatoes, mashing them as you add to the pot. Pour in about 1 cup of the liquid that was in the can with the tomatoes.
- Once tomatoes are added, add the tablespoon of garlic chili sauce. Using a spoon and fork (or an immersion blender for smoother sauce) mash the tomatoes up real good until small chunks remain. Toss in any additional seasonings desired (salt, garlic powder, etc.), and cover. Let simmer over medium low heat for around 30 minutes.
- While this simmers, work on bean balls and pasta.
- For the bean balls:
- Preheat the oven to 415 and coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the kidney beans and mash them up into a bean paste.
- Then add the rest of the ingredients and mix evenly.
- Working one at a time, grab a small handful and roll to form a bean ball about the size of a golf ball. Place on greased baking sheet and repeat until finished.
- Grease the balls with a small amount of olive oil all over then cook for ~35 minutes. Turn the balls about halfway through cooking time, and remove from oven when they begin to get a crispy brown.
- For the pasta:
- Bring salt water to a boil in a pot over medium heat, and follow cooking instructions according to pasta package.
- Once pasta is finished, drain water, return pasta to pot and season with salt, black pepper, and about a tbsp of olive oil.
- Bringing it all together:
- Once sauce is done, toss in pasta and bean balls. And then add the cup of shredded Parmesan.
- Heat for another ten minutes over a low heat, mixing everything together.
- Remove from heat and serve with bottles upon bottles of wine.